Josh Linn’s research centers on the effect of environmental regulation and market incentives on technology, with particular focus on the electricity sector and markets for new vehicles. His work on the electricity sector has compared the effectiveness of cap and trade and alternative policy instruments in promoting new technology, including renewable electricity technologies.

Several of his studies on new vehicles markets investigate the effect of CAFE standards on new vehicle characteristics and the effect of gasoline prices on new vehicle fuel economy. Past research on the manufacturing and pharmaceuticals sectors has explored the effect on new technology of price and consumer demand incentives. He has published in leading general interest and field journals in environmental, energy, and health economics.

Linn, who joined RFF in March 2010, was an assistant professor in the economics department at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a research scientist at MIT. At MIT, he served as executive director of the MIT Study of the Future of Solar Energy.